Tag Archives: Central

Mak’s Noodle
7 Wellington Street Hong Kong
(On north side of the street, 2 minutes east of Cochrane St)

Another famous noodle place for dumplings, noodles and beef brisket, but since we already had tender brisket at Kau Kee, we went with dumplings and wontons. “Song, Song, Song!” So, in Cantonese, the adjective “song” to describe the food consistency that is bouncy/chewy and possibly almost crunchy depending on the item (i.e. noodles, shrimp, dumplings, etc.), and the items at Mak’s were just that. The noodles here were cooked just right – not soggy. The dumplings and wontons were tasty.

[CFG Hong Kong Dining Tips: 1. Be ready to share a table with strangers. 2. Don’t expect to make “small talk” with the stranger – they might look at you weirdly. 3. Don’t idle. Make your decision quickly. 4. Be ready to pay up and get out. Most casual restaurants you pay at the cashier when you’re done, unless you’re somewhere fancy. In that case, once the check is delivered, they will stand there and wait for you to pay, so be ready to pay as they stare at you (yes, awkward for us Gui Lo’s). 5. Don’t expect friendly service. Just efficient Service. They might just bark at you, but don’t take it personally. The cashier might throw change at you, but I wouldn’t take that personally either. They’re just trying to get you out the door for more business to come in. “Mo Juo Zhu Sai lah!!” – Don’t get in the way.]

Okay, so I got this tip from CNN Travel. Let’s not listen to CNN Travel for this one. It’s a famous old tea house, where the dim sum ladies wear trays instead of carting the food around. While it is famous, it is not tasty and rather with it old and stale decor, the food seems old and tired as well. The beef meatball was mushy and bland. Siu Mai and Ha Gow (Shrimp dumplings) were both bland and not “song”/springy/bouncy in texture. The cha siu bao filling was way too sweet, and bun itself was actually too soft. The egg tart filling was not silky smooth like it was cooked too fast or too much egg, and what’s with the 1:1 crust to filling ratio?

Conclusion: Overall, my feeling is everything was just “yut pet.” In Cantonese, if food is soggy or looks bad, sometimes you say looks like “yut pet yeh” – looks like a pile of mush. Sorely disappointed. How you going to make me look bad in front of my dim sum loving husband?

[CFG Hong Kong Dining Tips: 1. Be ready to share a table with strangers. 2. Don’t expect to make “small talk” with the stranger – they might look at you weirdly. 3. Don’t idle. Make your decision quickly. 4. Be ready to pay up and get out. Most casual restaurants you pay at the cashier when you’re done, unless you’re somewhere fancy. In that case, once the check is delivered, they will stand there and wait for you to pay, so be ready to pay as they stare at you (yes, awkward for us Gui Lo’s). 5. Don’t expect friendly service. Just efficient Service. They might just bark at you, but don’t take it personally. The cashier might throw change at you, but I wouldn’t take that personally either. They’re just trying to get you out the door for more business to come in. “Mo Juo Zhu Sai lah!!” – Don’t get in the way. 6. Oh yea, it is customary to NOT tip unless already automatically added on.]

The reason why I chose Yung Kee Restaurant for dinner is for two reasons. 1. It is “famous” for its roast goose 2. I wanted to give hubbie a break from sharing tables with strangers. This place is definitely a fancier restaurant. You can make reservations, which I highly recommend because it is popular. With this meal was in a more fancy environment, meaning cloth napkins, well trained staff with a smile (what…? a smile? That’s a rarity in Asian countries), and definitely more pricey, you would expect perhaps even tastier food than our 60-200 HKD meals? Read on my friends.

1. The abalone soup was good. The soup was delicately flavored with the essence of abalone. The abalone itself was tender to the bite and had a sweet seafood essence.

2. XO Stir fried beef – xo sauce with anything usually makes it tasty. The spiciness from the sauce kicks it up a few notches and the good wok hei flavor gives it depth.
3. The chicken and roast goose were good, but I would say that our lunch at Yat Lok Restaurant, with way cheaper prices was better. The skin of the goose was on the soggy side. The chicken was pretty tasty and the green onion/ginger sauce enhanced the chicken essence. The only complaint with the chicken was that it did not seem organic, so the chicken did not have a “zou di ji”/running-on-ground/organic chicken taste and texture. Perhaps, that’s an upgrade request?

4. Stir fried fresh veggies in broth (pea shoots) – fantastically flavorful! Kids should be fed this and they would be eating loads of veggies without needing the coaxing from their parents.

Dessert!
Chinese style sesame pudding – it was smooth, creamy and not too sweet. Very good! I ate mine and hubbie’s.

Conclusion: Good to try once as a tourist. Otherwise, go off the beaten path for better and cheaper food.

[CFG Hong Kong Dining Tips: 1. Be ready to share a table with strangers. 2. Don’t expect to make “small talk” with the stranger – they might look at you weirdly. 3. Don’t idle. Make your decision quickly. 4. Be ready to pay up and get out. Most casual restaurants you pay at the cashier when you’re done, unless you’re somewhere fancy. In that case, once the check is delivered, they will stand there and wait for you to pay, so be ready to pay as they stare at you (yes, awkward for us Gui Lo’s). 5. Don’t expect friendly service. Just efficient Service. They might just bark at you, but don’t take it personally. The cashier might throw change at you, but I wouldn’t take that personally either. They’re just trying to get you out the door for more business to come in. “Mo Juo Zhu Sai lah!!” – Don’t get in the way. 6. Oh yea, it is customary to NOT tip unless already automatically added on.]

We decided to go to Yat Lok Restaurant not because of any reviews, but simply because we passed by it on the way to Luk Yu Tea House, I was famished from window shopping in Kowloon side (btw, Ladies Market just STARTS to set up at noon, so don’t hit it up until later) and was craving some rice and meat! This was another location where the office crowd was swarming in, so it was busy! Only had to share the table for half the time, but then, we were probably only sitting for ten minutes.

Hubbie chose the roast duck, cha siu (chinese bbq pork) and lai fun (type of tapioca/rice noodle, thinner than it’s Vietnamese counterpart) and I got cha siu, roast duck and rice combo. The roast duck was amazing. Thin & crispy skin, juicy and fatty meat. The cha siu was nice and carmelized on the outside and tender on the inside. The lai fun was slippery, bouncy and chewy – my inner texture whore was happy. The rice was the perfect pairing to sop up the hearty residual sauces. For the greasy haters, this won’t be your digs.

[CFG Hong Kong Dining Tips: 1. Be ready to share a table with strangers. 2. Don’t expect to make “small talk” with the stranger – they might look at you weirdly. 3. Don’t idle. Make your decision quickly. 4. Be ready to pay up and get out. Most casual restaurants you pay at the cashier when you’re done, unless you’re somewhere fancy. In that case, once the check is delivered, they will stand there and wait for you to pay, so be ready to pay as they stare at you (yes, awkward for us Gui Lo’s). 5. Don’t expect friendly service. Just efficient Service. They might just bark at you, but don’t take it personally. The cashier might throw change at you, but I wouldn’t take that personally either. They’re just trying to get you out the door for more business to come in. “Mo Juo Zhu Sai lah!!” – Don’t get in the way. 6. Oh yea, it is customary to NOT tip unless already automatically added on.]